The Hokianga Dog Tax Uprising

Why was a seemingly mundane 19th-century fiscal measure—a tax levied on dog owners—met by Māori with widespread repudiation and an armed uprising? The significance of what is known as the ‘Hokianga Dog Tax Rebellion’ often framed in terms its apparent quashing colonial forces 1898, taken to signal moment at which Crown sovereignty finally imposed upon northern Māori. This paper questions mainstream historical narrative, taking seriously political stakes taxation locating ‘dog tax’ within disciplinary regime that sought interpellate financially morally liable subjects. aimed protection sheep, central pillar early economy, but also viewed means transforming into citizen-subjects regime. doggedness officials enforce payment, steadfastness opposition tax, illuminate highly politicised character context. article excerpt from Catherine Cumming’s Financial Colonisation Aotearoa, be published Economic Social Research Aotearoa late 2021.